THE QUEEN DOWAGER OF SAXONY.
!To THE EDITOR OP THE "Bram:roll:1 SIR,—Last Sunday brought a notable. addition to the Royal death-roll. The Queen Dowager of Saxony, widow of King Albert, who died in 1902, passed away quietly at her villa near Dresden after a short illness, marked by alternations of recovery and relapse. The departed Queen's nobility of charaCter and deportnient made her a Worthy repre- sentative of the house of Vasa and her heroic ancestor, Gustavus Adolphus. -A youthful project which was to marry her to Napoleon HI. having fallen through, the descendant of "the Lion of the North" became the consort of the Crown Prince of Saxony, who—strange are the ironies of history !- try his military geniiie was destined to be one of the main causes of the fall and captivity Of bet intended French husband. touring the trials of 1876 princesS Carols. was conspicuous for her vigorous assumption of the `role of a leading Sister of Mercy. Disdaining the risks of infection, she visited the sick victims of war, comforted the wounded in the hospitals, and to enlarge her knowledge Oen acted as
nurse. Her subsequent life was full of educational and charitable work; her systematic help to schools, hospitals, homes of refuge was not limited to mere pecuniary assist- ance, but was accompanied by steadfast personal intervention in the various arrangements—medical, hygienic, and financial —of the institutions concerned, amongst which the Dresden Carolabaus is of European repute. Every inch a Queen, the Royal Samaritan and mother of her people was a fit ornament of the ceremonials in which she stood by her noble husband's side. Her Majesty's manner, dignified, intimate, even affectionate, made her an object of general respect and endearment. Of those whom the departed Queen honoured with her friendship, be they natives or bygone visitors of the "Elbe Florence," none will think of her without feelings of respect and affection.—I am, Sir, &c., Z.
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